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W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Don Giovanni (Highlights from the complete opera) William Shimell, Cheryl Studer, Samuel Ramey / Vienna Philharmonic / Riccardo Muti [ EMI Encore / CD - released 22/Feb/2005 ] Combining comedy and drama, Don Giovanni is one of the most well-known and often praised operas ever written. First performed in 1787, it has been appealing to audiences ever since with its multitude of moral, as well as musical themes. |
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DARIUS MILHAUD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Milhaud: Le Carnaval d'Aix / Le boeuf sur le toit / la creation du monde / Concertos Claude Helffer (piano) Frederique Cambreling (harp) / Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon [ Warner Classics Erato / 2 CD - released 16/Nov/1998 ] Distinctively French, yet cosmopolitan in his personal and artistic horizons, Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) was adventurous, prominent, and prolific. A pupil of Dukas and d'Indy, he became a member of Les Six and a distinguished teacher in the USA and... |
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W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte (complete opera recorded in 2006) Glyndebourne Opera / Topi Lehtipuu, Luca Pisaroni, Miah Persson, Anke Vondung / Ivan Fischer (conductor) [ Opus Arte / Rai Trade DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/May/2007 ] 'I had to search long and hard down memory lane to recall a Così that so vividly revealed both the pleasure and the overwhelming pain of this evermore disturbing masterpiece, and I failed.' Opera |
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W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: La Finta Semplice (complete opera recorded in 1983) Helen Donath, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Robert Holl, Teresa Berganza / Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Leopold Hager(cond) [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2012 ] "Helen Donath is her usual bright-toned and fluent self and she has a fine trill; Teresa Berganza is lovely too, nuanced as always and still in creamy voice. Light and springy, even more delectable is Jutta-Renate Ihloff in the soubrette role." |
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CARL MARIA von WEBER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Weber, completed Mahler: Die Drei Pintos (The Three Pintos) [complete opera] Robert Holzer, Sophie Marilley, Peter Furlon / Wexford Festival Opera Chorus, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Belarus Paolo Arrivabeni [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2004 ] Recorded: 22, 25, 28 & 31 October 2003 Recording Venue: Theatre Royal, High Street, Wexford, Ireland |
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LEON MINKUS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Minkus: Paquita / La Bayadere (ballets) Sofia National Opera Orchestra, Boris Spassov [ Capriccio / CD - released 12/Dec/1995 ] "This is a wonderful recording of music of the under-rated Minkus (and a few others), a way to often neglected composer of some of the most famous works of ballet." (Amazon.com) |
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MASCAGNI / MASSENET / DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Duets & Arias Angela Gheorghiu (soprano) Roberto Alagna (tenor) / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Richard Armstrong [ EMI Music / CD - released 1/Dec/2000 ] An ideal gift - a delightful collection of opera duets |
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NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tsar's Bride (complete opera) Ekaterina Kudriavchenko, Arkady Mishenkin, Vladislav Verestnikov / Sveshnikov Russian Academic Choir & Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Andrey Chistiakov [ Brilliant Classics Opera Collection / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] 100% Russian feast - An all-Russian cast in this very Russian opera of Rimsky-Korsakov, one of the finest Russian opera composers (and still neglected in this field). |
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GAETANO DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Donizetti: Olivo e Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 1980 with complete libretto) Eva Czapò, Benedetta Pecchioli, Gastone Sarti, Gino Orlandini, Mario Chiappi / Coro Della Radio Televisione Della Svizzera Italiana, Bruno Rigacci [ Nuova Era / 2 CD Box Set - released 21/Jun/1997 ] Recording Date: October 26, 1980 Recording Location: Lugano, Svizzera, Auditorio RSI |
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PIETRO MASCAGNI / RUGGIERO LEONCAVALLO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana / Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Complete Operas) [with Opera Intermezzi] Fiorenza Cossotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Giuseppe Taddei / Coro e Orchestra del Teatro all Scala, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD Box Set - released 3/Feb/2002 ] Includes a booklet with the synopsis and libretto of both operas in German, Italian, English and French. |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Tosca (complete opera recorded 2000) Francesca Patane, Jose Cura, Renato Bruson / Symphony Orchestra of the Province of Bari / Pier Giorgio Morandi [ PIM DVD / DVD - released 4/Sep/2003 ] This performance was acclaimed as an operatic event, and the superstar cast makes it a Tosca for the ages. Enrico Castiglione has directed the work with tremendous originality and dramatic power. |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Fidelio, Op. 72 (Complete Opera recorded in 1970) Helga Dernesch, Jon Vickers, Zoltán Kéléman, Helen Donath / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ EMI Classics Opera / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/1995 ] "Helga Dernesch as Leonare gives a glorious, thrilling peformance. The orchestral playing is superb." (Penguin Guide) |
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Britten: The Turn of the Screw (Complete Opera recorded in 2002) Ian Bostridge, Joan Rodgers, Julian Leang, Caroline Wise / Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Harding [ Virgin Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Apr/2011 ] Gramophone Magazine Award Finalist 2003 - Editor's Choice (Gramophone Magazine) October 2002 |
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PUCCINI / VERDI / MASCAGNI / DELIBES / ROSSINI / HUMPERDINCK / MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Opera Duets Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Mario del Monaco, Mirella Freni. Lucia Popp, Marilyn Horne, Christa Ludwig, Franco Corelli [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 5/Apr/1998 ] Decca's recorded legacy is dominated by the huge number of complete opera recordings and vocal recitals. These extracts are taken from complete recordings. |
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PUCCINI / VERDI / BELLINI / DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Love Duets Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti / National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca Opera Gala / CD - released 5/Apr/1999 ] The ardour and passion of some of the best-known love duets from Italian Opera are brought out to the full by the stunning voices of two of the world's greatest singers. |
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VINCENCO BELLINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bellini: Zaira (complete opera recorded live in 1990) Katia Ricciarelli, Simone Alaimo, Ramon Vargas, Alexandra Papadjakou / Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania, Paolo Olmi [ Nuova Era / 2 CD Box Set - released 4/Sep/2009 ] "(Katia Ricciarelli gives) a highly impressive portrayal of the title part. As Orosmane, Simone Alaimo's lean bass is also a further strength with his clear diction a welcome hallmark." MusicWeb |
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VINCENCO BELLINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: I Capuleti E I Monteccchi (complete opera recorded in 1999 with libretto) Jennifer Larmore, Hei-Kyung Hong, Paul Groves, Robert Lloyd / Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Donald Runnicles [ Teldec Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 12/Oct/1999 ] "Donald Runnicles offers a fresh and sympathetic reading of Bellini's 'Romeo and Juliet' opera with an outstanding cast…Though the competition is strong, the Teldec set scores both in its casting and in its fullness of sound." (Penguin Guide *** Key |
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JACQUES OFFENBACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Offenbach: Orpheus In The Underworld (operetta in English) Mary Hegarty, David Fieldsend, Jill Pert, Richard Suart, Rosemarie Arthars, D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, John Owen Edwards [ Sony music / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Jan/1994 ] ".. the whole production has a real lived-in feel and, in Mary Hegarty's flighty Eurydice, a nymphet - sorry, nymph - virtually to die for. " BBC Music |
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GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Don Carlo (Complete Opera with libretto recorded in 1993) Michael Sylvester, Aprile Millo, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Vladimir Chernov, Dolora Zajick / Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine [ Sony Classical / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Nov/1993 ] "Levine's performance of the five-act Italian Don Carlo supersedes all other versions, because he conducts Verdi's spacious score with such masterly skill and meticulous attention to detail, and has so magnificent an orchestra at his command" BBC |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Turandot (Highlights from the opera) Montserrat Caballe, Jose Carreras, Mirella Freni, Alain Lombard [ EMI Redline / CD - released 29/Jun/1978 ] "From the verystart Caballe conveys an element of mystery while Freni underlines the dramatic rather than the lyrical side of Liu's role." (Penguin Guide) |